Clasp fob



I S'IAES fr rios.

GEORGE P. EVANS, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

CLASP FOR HOOPED SKIRTS. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. EVANS, of Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have inventedV an Improvement in Hoop-Skirts; and I do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1 denotes a top view; Fig. 2, a front elevation, and Fig. 3, a longitudinal section of the laps of a skirt hoop provided with my improved caoutchouc or elastic clasps.

In the manufacture of contractile or what is usually termed expansion skirt hoops, a strip of steel bent in the form of a hoop has its ends lapped a few inches on each other, the laps being held to one another by two metallic or inelastic clasps. One of these clasps is fixed to each extremity of the hoop, and extends about the part lapped against such extremity. Such metallic clasps are objectionable, because when the hoops are protected by a braided covering the clasps are liable to soon cut or wear such and in a manner to materially injure the skirt, as well as to impair its efliciency or ability to maintain itself at any desirable degree of extension. Instead of a metallic inelastic clasp I employ one made of caoutchouc or an equivalent elastic material.

In the drawings, A, A represent a skirt hoop, of which a, and Y), are laps or parts lapped on each other and respectively connected with the two clasps, B, B.

In carrying out my invention or improvement, I use blocks of caoutchouc perforated longitudinally or what is the same short tubes composed of caoutchouc. In applying such to the laps, I extend one lap entirely through a block longitudinally and I pass the other in the same manner against the side of the first lap and about half way through the block and thence transversely out of it, the end of the lap being made in the form of a hook as shown at c, in Fig. 3. The block or clasp should be so applied to the two laps, that its elasticity may cause it to contract firmly on them and draw them closely together.

In making either contraction or expansion of the skirt hoop each block will slide on the lap to which it is not hooked or fastened, and its inherent contractile power will operate to very favorable advantage in producing the friction necessary to maintain the parts in place after either' the contraction or expansion of the hoop may have been effected.

I/Vhile the metallic clasp often presents points to catch in or tear the dress of the wearer, the caoutchouc or elastic clasp is free from such. yielding it is not so liable to be uncomfortable to a person, as is a metallic clasp, particularly while the person may be sitting on it.

I do not claim an inelastic metallic clasp applied to a skirt hoop, neither do I claim an elastic clasp, but

I claim- As a new article of manufacture, a skirt hoop united at its ends, as described, by elastic or tubular caoutchouc clasps constructed so as to operate substantially in manner and for the purpose as hereinbefore Besides being soft orV 

